Mountain of Inconvenience
by Sara Jaye
Summary: <html><head></head>It amazed her just how stubborn her brother could be sometimes.</html>


It never failed to amaze her just how stubborn Tom could be.

It was one thing when he insisted the crook _had_ to be a man, or that his overly complicated plan was foolproof, or that studying was better than sports any day of the week. Those arguments Anne could grit her teeth and put up with.

But when he was obviously ill, struggling just to walk in step with her, and _still_ refused to stop somewhere and rest, that was a whole other story. Sighing, she paused in her steps to wait for him to catch up to her yet again.

"Maybe I oughta call Pop, or Henry and Stanley," she said.

"Not necessary." Behind her, Tom coughed as he dragged himself through the snow. _Why did this mystery have to be in the Alps_, Anne thought with some annoyance. The Alps were for skiing, not for younger brothers to catch their death of cold and be miserable in. "I assure you, aside from a modicum of drowsiness, I'm feeling quite-"

He swayed, and Anne rushed back to catch him before he hit the ground.

"You're not fine, now quit being so stubborn and let me call for help," she insisted. When Tom didn't protest, she figured that was her moment and went for her Chan Comm...only to lower her wrist when she realized Tom wasn't even _moving._

"Tom?" She shook him. "Tom, this is no time to take a nap."

No answer.

"...oh, _no_." Quickly, she pressed a hand to his head, he was burning up. "Great, just great! You had to keep going until you were half-dead, didn't you? Now what are we gonna do?" A pang of fear went through her; people who passed out in the snow became hypothermic and some even-_no_, she scolded herself, _don't even go there. Just stay calm, call for help, and find some way to keep him warm._

Carefully, she shifted Tom in her arms so that his head was resting on her shoulder, then lifted her wrist once more. "Anne to Henry! Come in, Henry!"

"Anne?" His voice was faint, but at least she had a signal. "Anne, where are you? Alan and Suzie have been looking for you and Tom everywhere."

"We got separated," Anne said. "Tom and I got lost on the mountains, and Tom's really sick."

"Where are you exactly?" Henry asked.

"We're-" She glanced around. Nothing but rocks and tree stumps...and a cave. "We'll be in the one cave surrounded by rocks and tree stumps," she said.

"Right. Stanley and I will be there," Henry affirmed. "Until then, you have enough supplies in your pack, right? Build a fire, make sure you keep Tom as warm as possible."

"Right. We'll see you soon, then, I hope." The communication ended, and Anne slowly stood up, Tom still in her arms as she went for the cave as fast as her legs could carry her. Once inside, she carefully laid Tom down beside their packs and built a fire. Then she dug a blanket from her pack and, after a moment's deliberation, stripped both of them down to their last layers and wrapped it tightly around them, Anne holding Tom tightly against her to warm him.

"Boy, you really know how to drive me crazy." She stroked his face. "You really worry me sometimes with your bravado, you know that?"

She sighed, resting her cheek against his hair. Boys were always trying to prove how tough they were, it was like the sky being blue. But when it came to her own dear brother she wished there was some way to curtail it. At least to avoid situations like this.

"Just get better, okay? I don't know what I'd do without you."

-x-

She didn't know when, but at some point she'd fallen asleep. She woke to the sound of Tom calling her name.

"Anne? Anne, wake up!" Her eyes fluttered open and she looked down at him; he still looked like death warmed over but at least he was awake.

"Morning, genius."

"Good, I was beginning to fear you wouldn't awaken. I don't know what happened, but you must have fainted at some point," he said.

"Actually, you're the one who passed out. If I hadn't found this cave we'd be done for," she said. "You're really something, you know that? If you weren't feeling well, why didn't you just stay back at the inn?"

"I guess I was under the assumption that it would pass," Tom said. "I thought-um, Anne? Why are we..."

"Took you that long to notice?" she teased, then became serious again. "I had to, it was the only way to keep us from freezing to death."

"Someone's been brushing up on her survival handbooks." Tom smiled. "Quite fortunate, too, as our fire seems to have gone out." He coughed and shivered, pulling closer to her. "Now that I'm forced to admit it, I really do feel quite awful."

"Well, yeah, after pushing yourself so hard that's a no-brainer," Anne said with a snort. "Why don't you get your clothes on, and I'll get another fire going and make you some tea. Or hot water."

Once they were dressed and Tom was wrapped in a blanket with a travel mug of hot water pressed into his hands, he looked at Anne with a sickly smile.

"Thanks for taking care of me like this," he said. "Sometimes I do wonder just how you put up with me, especially when my male bravado induces me to say and do less than intelligent things."

Anne wrapped an arm around him and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I do it because you're my brother and I love you," she said. "You don't know how relieved I was to hear you calling my name before."

"Anne..." He set his mug down and leaned against her. "Well, now the only question is, how long until-"

"Anne! Tom! Where are you guys?"

Tom's eyes widened.

"That's Stanley's voice...Anne, did you..."

"I called for help while you were passed out. He and Henry should be finding us-"

"Here you are!" Henry burst through the entrance of the cave. "Wow, Tom, you really look awful."

"So I've been told." Tom sneezed, and Henry shook his head.

"Here, get on my back. Anne, put out the fire and grab the packs, Stanley and a rescue copter are waiting for us outside." He leaned over so that Tom could climb onto his back, and Anne set to work snuffing out the fire and packing everything up.

-x-

"Boy, and people think Henry and I can't stay outta trouble for anything," Stanley chuckled. They'd made it back to the inn at last, Tom was bundled up in his bed and Suzie was making plenty of hot soup and tea in the small kitchen area. "I think next time we oughta let Pop and someone else tackle the mountains."

"I vote the next case we solve be in Tahiti," Anne snorted.

"A splendid idea, Anne," Tom said with a cough. "I'll speak to our mutual parent on that front."

"You guys..." Henry ruffled the backs of their heads. "Next time, just don't get separated from your groups. It's that simple."

Anne sighed, leaning back in her chair and casting a glance out the window. _Snow, as pretty as you are, I sure wouldn't mind not seeing you again for a good, long time._


End file.
